Forbidden Love
by Demonaria
Summary: What happens when someone from Keisuke’s past comes back into his life. Will he be able to hold onto himself, or will he slide back into the Japanese underground.
1. Chapter 1

Forbidden Love

I don't own Initial D or any of the characters. This is completely a work of fiction, and is completely mine.

Pairings: KeisukexOC, RyosukexTakumi (slight)

Summary: What happens when someone from Keisuke's past comes back into his life. Will he be able to hold onto himself, or will he slide back into the Japanese underground.

Chapter One

5…

She zipped up her leather jacket.

4…

She grabs her keys from the table.

3…

She walks out the front door.

2…

She slides into the driver's side of her car.

1…

She gets ready to turn the key…

"Nii-san! Where are you going?"

"K'so. Mia, go back in the house." Aria Yaslana yells at her little sister.

"But where are you going?" Mia Yaslana asks.

"I'm going to a race. Now go back in the house."

"A race! Can I come? Please Nii-san. Please! Please! Please! Ppplleeaassee!?"

"If I say yes will you shut up?!"

"Yes! I'll go get my jacket." Mia cheered.

'How is it that she always gets just what she wants out of me?' Aria thought with a small grin.

Just then Mia slid into the passenger seat of Aria's Mazda RX-8. After seatbelts were fastened, Aria released the parking brake and popped the clutch out before tearing towards the mountain pass.

* * *

"Are they here yet?" Aria asked as she stepped out of her car along side her team. 

"No. But we expect them any minute." Tak said.

"That's probably them now." Rein added.

Sure enough from around the corner came a yellow FD, a panda 86, and three support vans.

'Hmm. That FD sounds pretty tuned. Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought.' Aria thought.

Just then Ryosuke, Keisuke, and Takumi walked up to the Mountain Demons.

"We request the use of the course from now until sunrise to practice. A assume that this is acceptable." Ryosuke said.

"Of course." Tak replied. "My name's Tak Uruchia, This is Rein Kisue our down hill specialist. And that is Aria …"

"Uzukia, Up-hill extraordinaire." Aria interrupted. All of the members of her team looked at her strangely, a fact that the members of project D didn't catch.

"My name's Takahashi Ryosuke. This is our uphill specialist Takahashi Keisuke, and this is Fujiwara Takumi our down-hill specialist."

Keisuke's attention had been solely focused on Aria through all the introductions. He was racing ANOTHER girl! He sincerely hoped that she was better than the last one he raced. Something about this girl seemed really familiar and slightly dangerous.

Likewise, Aria's attention had been on Keisuke. 'So this is the famous Project D. It seems that Keisuke's my target. We'll see what he's really made of on this pass.'

"The course is yours until Dawn. We'll be taking our leave now." Tak said.

Tak and Rein went to their cars but Aria made no move to leave.

"Aren't you coming Aria-kun?" Rein asked when Aria made no move to leave.

"Nii-san, you said you were coming to a race!" Mia complained at the same time.

"I'll be along shortly. Mia won't let me rest until she's seen some action tonight. Go on without me."

Tak and Rein nodded their consent and then left the course. Aria leaned against her car for a few more moments before nodding to herself and approaching Ryosuke.

"Excuse me. Would it be alright if I ran the course once before you take over? They don't call this the Devils Pass for nothing and I'd like to make sure the course is clear before turning it over to you. That and my little sister will pester me all night unless I take her on the pass."

Ryosuke studied Aria for a moment before nodding and returning to his tasks.

Aria recognized her dismissal, and so turned back to her car. "Get in Mia. We're going up the mountain."

"Watch her Keisuke. You can get a glimpse of your opponent." Ryosuke said to his little brother. He wondered why she would take the risk of showing her style before a race.

Aria fired up her car and released the parking brake before engaging the clutch and spinning her tires out of the lot and onto the course. 'Hmmm. A perfect start. Watch closely Keisuke-kun. I'll show you how to exceed on this course.' Aria thought to herself with a grin.

"What! An RX-8! What has that got in it." Keisuke exclaimed.

"A 232HP Renesis rotary engine. And that's untuned. You have your work cut out for you with this one Keisuke."

Aria flew up the course, a wide eyed and grinning Mia in the passenger seat. Once at the top she turned and tackled the down hill with the same amount of enthusiasm. Upon reaching the bottom once more, she pulled up beside the Project D vans and rolled down her window. "Course is clear. She's all yours."

"Arigato, Aria-san. We look forward to the race tomorrow night." Ryosuke replied.

Aria nodded before rolling her window back up and heading for home.

"Aniki, what was the time on that run total?"

Ryosuke turned to his little brother and showed him the stopwatch. Keisuke's eyes widened. "I definitely have my work cut out for me tomorrow night."

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Aria reached over and sleepily slapped her alarm clock before actually looking at the time. After all she always gave herself a fifteen minute grace period to actually get out of bed. After rolling over and laying in bed for a few more minutes, Aria decided that she really did need to get up so reluctantly she drug herself out of bed and to the shower.

Twenty minutes later a very much more awake Aria entered the kitchen of the small house she shared with her 16 year old sister. "Morning Nii-san." Mia said.

"Morning Mia. Don't you have school today?" Aria asked.

"Nope. It's reading day. Finals start on Monday so Saturday we don't have school."

"Aa. So what are your plans for today then?"

"Well… I was hoping you'd let me go to the race with you tonight." Mia asked hopefully already knowing the answer.

"No…"

"But Nii-san…"

"I said no Mia. You know I don't like you being at the races. There are too many people there and I don't like you being by yourself while I'm racing."

"You're so unfair Aria. Ya know I'm 16 now. I'm not a little kid anymore."

"No, you're not. But you are still my little sister and it's my job to look after you. Please Mia, don't argue with me on this." Aria asked in her most pleading voice. Aria had been taking care of her sister since their mother had died three years ago, and Aria knew that Mia would do whatever she asked. She may not like it, but she did do it.

Mia couldn't refuse anything of her sister when she asked so imploringly so reluctantly she replied, "Fine, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

* * *

"Morning Aniki." Keisuke said as he entered the kitchen of the Takahashi residence.

"Are you ready for the race tonight?" Ryosuke replied.

"Of course Aniki. I've never been more ready in my life." Keisuke replied.

The elder Takahashi brother only gave him a weird look. Understanding that look completely Keisuke decided to enlighten his brother.

"It's just that I don't want to be beat by a girl. Not only that but for some strange reason I feel like I know her from somewhere."

"Aa. I see. Well, I'm off to class. Try and get some rest today Keisuke. We have a long night ahead of us." Ryosuke said as he got up from the small kitchen table.

"Later Aniki." Keisuke replied.

* * *

Ten o'clock approached and once again all of Project D and the Mountain demons were gathered at the base of the mountain pass know to the locals as the Devils Pass.

"As I'm sure you are aware, we like to do things in the chaser fashion and seeing as this is your home course, we'll allow you to choose which position you will take for the first run." Ryosuke said to the Demons, mostly directing his comment at Aria since she would be the first to race.

After very little thought Aria had made her choice. "I'll follow."

At this everyone looked a little shocked. The demons because of the way they knew Aria hated to follow, and the members of project D for the way they had seen Aria take off the previous night. Finally after a small silence Ryosuke announced that it was time to start the race.

At this announcement, both Aria and Keisuke got in their cars and drove towards the starting line with Keisuke in front. Once both cars were in position, both drivers approached each other to exchange the pre-match niceties.

"Don't think that just because I chose to follow that this will be an easy match for you, I know this pass like the back of my hand." Aria started.

"Oh I won't, but don't get so sure of yourself. Just because you have a newer car, doesn't mean you'll win." Keisuke replied. Aria and he then shook hands before returning to their cars. Right before Aria got in her car she removed her denim jacket and tossed it to one of her teammates. In the brief instant that Keisuke saw Aria's back he noticed a black mark on the back of her right shoulder, but choosing to ignore it he just got in his car and waited for the go.

At the go, Keisuke shot up the mountain with Aria hot on his tail. The first set of corners were passed with Keisuke holding his lead and then while approaching the first set of hairpins something happened that Keisuke definitely didn't expect. In the short straight right before the corners, Aria had pulled her car up even with his.

"Is she crazy!" He exclaimed to no one but himself. "She'll never have time to brake!"

In all actuality Aria had just done what she had planned on doing, unnerving her opponent so much that he entered the hairpin on a slightly off line. Aria fell back behind the yellow FD and once again glued herself to Keisuke's bumper through the next two corners, before once again making a move. This time however she had no intentions of falling back behind. Instead she inserted herself on the inside line and forced Keisuke to take the outside which gave her just the room she needed to barely scrape by the other car.

Behind her, Keisuke couldn't believe what had just happened. He had been passed! Not only had he been passed, but he had been passed by a girl in a newer model of his car! But Keisuke was far from giving up.

"He's been passed!" Someone reported through a radio from the corner that Aria had passed Keisuke in. At this, all of Project D's heads turned to their leader. Through it all Ryosuke looked as calm as ever.

Even though Keisuke pushed his beloved car as hard as he could, he was unable to overtake Aria. Keisuke had lost. Both cars then returned to the base of the mountain where a very dejected Keisuke got out of his car. Just as Keisuke shut his door and turned around, Aria was shutting her door. Finally having a clear view of Aria's back, the mark on Aria's shoulder became clear. Keisuke's eyes widened in shock.

His brother noticed Keisuke's slightly panicked expression. "Keisuke? Are you all right?" Ryosuke asked as if talking to a skittish animal.

Only one word left his brother's lips.

"Trigun…"

tbc


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"So you do remember. I was beginning to wonder how long it would take you Takahashi." Aria said without even turning around.

"YOU!!" Keisuke yelled. Aria had finally turned around and now stood facing him, but before she could move Keisuke had advanced and had punched Aria hard in the jaw making the girl stagger. Before he could land the second blow however, Ryosuke and Takumi had grabbed him and pulled him back.

Aria simply stood there and wiped the small trickle of blood coming from her split lip off.

"How do you know her Keisuke?" Ryosuke asked while struggling the restrain his brother.

"Do you remember when you found me Aniki?"

"How could I forget, that's when my resolve to become a doctor was decided."

"Well, SHE'S the reason you found me like you did." Keisuke said while still struggling against his brother and Takumi.

"You still hit like a pussy Keisuke, and it was for your own good you know."

"Yeah but you didn't have to leave me like that!" Keisuke shouted at the girl.

"If I had stayed we both would have been killed and you know it!" Aria yelled back.

"Yeah well maybe being killed would have been easier than living with a broken heart." Keisuke replied, finally becoming limp in his brother's arms.

"Yeah, maybe. But I wasn't about to let that happen." Aria replied in an equally dejected tone.

Starting to feel extremely uncomfortable with the situation, Ryosuke decided it would be the best to leave Aria and Keisuke alone to talk. So with that he gathered both teams and started heading towards the top of the mountain for the down-hill race, but not before giving his brother a look of warning not to hit the girl again.

Once everyone but Keisuke and Aria were gone, Aria finally spoke.

"You know why I did what I did back then, don't you?"

"Somewhat." Keisuke replied, finally looking at Aria. "Sorry for hitting you. It's just that three years is a long time, and well I guess seeing you again just brought back a lot of hurt."

"Keisuke…" Aria said as she reached out to lay her hand against his cheek. She quickly dropped her hand however when he flinched away from her touch. "If I had stayed we both would have died. I loved you too much to allow that to happen." Aria said, and as an after thought she added in barely a whisper, "I still love you."

At this Keisuke could only stare at the woman his previous girlfriend had become.

flashback

_"Punk!__ Don't ever come onto our turf again." Some man said while raining down blows upon an already bloodied Keisuke._

_"Stop!__ Let him be. Let him return to his gang as a message and a warning as to what happens when someone invades the Trigun's turf." Aria said while leering down at him._

_"Yeah, good idea Aria."__ Another man said._

_The group of gangsters then left a very bloodied Keisuke lying in the middle of the sidewalk, but right before Aria left he could have swore he heard her whisper "Stay safe" before she too ran off into the night._

_It was in that exact position that Ryosuke found him, and also the beginning of his brand new life._

_end_

"I take it you're not a trigun anymore, are you." Keisuke said when he finally returned to the real world.

"I haven't been since shortly after that night. I've know you weren't a biker anymore for a while now."

"How did you get out? I mean Aniki saved me from myself, but you…"

"I raced my way out. Shortly after that night, I found out that my mother was dying. You already know that my father died in America and that my mother moved us to Japan to be with her family. And you know that shortly after I rebelled and disappeared. Evidently my mother got really sick about a year later. My little sister was only 13 and I wouldn't let her go into a foster home, so I set the conditions that if I won the race they would let me go."

"I guess since your father was a pro racer in America, it wasn't hard to win." Keisuke said with the hint of a smile.

"No, it wasn't." Aria said with a small smile back. "So, they let me go. By the time I returned to my family, my mother had already died. I fought for custody of my sister, and eventually won. My mother's family left us a lot of money so I bought a house that Mia and me have lived in for almost two years now."

"That girl with you last night was your sister?"

"Yep. She's sixteen now and love's reminding me of the fact that she's not a little girl anymore." Aria said with a roll of her eyes trying to lighten the situation.

"Aria, do you mean what you said earlier. That you still love me?" Keisuke asked, becoming serious once more.

Aria looked away before replying. "Yes. I never stopped loving you."

"Good. Then you won't mind when I do this." With that, Keisuke stepped towards Aria and quickly placed his mouth on hers in a sweet but demanding kiss that Aria quickly found herself returning. At that precise moment, Takumi's 86 went flying past the finish with Rein's car firmly behind him.

Keisuke didn't stop the kiss until Takumi had gotten out of his car, and still not releasing Aria said, "Well, at least one of us managed to win tonight."

"Look's like to me that we both won just not both in racing." Takumi said with something that was as close to a grin as Takumi got.

tbc


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Shortly after, and with a promise from Keisuke to visit Aria the next night, The Mountain Demons and Project D went their separate ways. The members of Project D had a brief meeting after arriving back at the Takahashi residence before everyone headed home. Just as Keisuke closed the door after their last guest, Ryosuke pounced.

"Care to tell me what the hell happened tonight Keisuke? One, you hit a girl. And two, you just promised to visit said girl tomorrow night."

"Uh… I can explain really I can." Keisuke replied, rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous fashion. Ryosuke just crossed his arms across his chest in a way that clearly said this should be good.

"Aria and I have a history…" Keisuke started.

"I could see that." Ryosuke interrupted. Keisuke glared at him in a way that made his brother think twice before interrupting again.

"As I was saying, Aria used to be my girlfriend back when I was a biker. She didn't know that I was part of a gang, and I didn't know that she was part of a gang when we met. We hit it off and started dating. Then she found out that I was a biker and I found out that she was a Trigun. We were very much in love but our love was forbidden by the codes of the streets. After all we were from rival gangs. The night you found me I had went to see Aria, but I hadn't expected some other members of her gang being in the area. They beat the crap out of me, but Aria made them stop before they could kill me. She said that they should leave me as a warning to other gangs as to what happens when someone moved in on their turf. Then she just left me there and ran off into the night. I was heart broken. I know why she left. If she had stayed, she would have been marked as a traitor and we both would have most likely been killed. Still, knowing why she left didn't make it hurt any less. Aria's really the first and only girl I ever loved."

Ryosuke waited a few moments to see if his brother was going to say anything else before replying. When Keisuke didn't say anything Ryosuke replied. "Do you love her?"

Taken aback by his brother's question, Keisuke looked at him for several moments before replying. "Ya know, I think I do. I don't think I ever stopped loving her."

"Then, I wish you the best of luck."

* * *

"You're home late." Mia commented as Aria walked through the door of their house. She then turned around and gasped when she saw the very swollen and bruised cheek of her sister. "What happened!"

"Nothing you need to worry about." Aria replied before heading towards her room, knowing that her sister wouldn't let it rest at that.

Once Aria was out of the living room, Mia headed towards the kitchen to get some ice for her sister. She could tell that something had happened besides her sister obviously getting decked. Mia then headed towards her sister's room and entered without even knocking.

"Don't you ever knock?" Aria said from where she was laying on her bed.

"Nope. I brought you some ice for that cheek."

"Thanks." Aria said as she took the ice and gently placed it against her very tender cheek with a wince.

"Do you wanna talk about what happened? I take it that you beat this Takahashi guy."

"Yeah, but that's not why he hit me, and no, I'm not upset. Just kind of in a daze. Keisuke was my boyfriend when I was with the Trigun's. Turns out that he still loves me just as I still love him."

"He loves you, so he hit you?" Mia asked obviously confused.

"It's complicated, and maybe I'll explain it to you some day, but today is not that day." Aria replied with a smirk. "Anyway, I'm going out tomorrow night, so I won't be home."

"Okay." Mia replied, then as an after thought she added, "Ya know, I'm not a child anymore. You don't need to treat me like one. Contrary to what you would like to think, I am mostly self sufficient now. You don't have to hold my hand all the time."

"I know, but it's just that I… don't want you to end up like me Mia. I want you to go to school and get a good education, and become more than just some hot rod street racer with a wrap sheet."

"Don't worry nii-san. I learned from your mistakes. And you're more than just some street racer with a wrap sheet… you're one hell of a good sister." Mia said before giving her sister a quick kiss to the cheek and leaving the room.

Aria sat stunned for a few moments. It wasn't very often that her sister showed how much she adored her, but when she did it always left Aria speechless. "Thank you Mia. That means more to me than you'll ever know." Aria said to no one.

tbc


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Keisuke, I'm going out. I'll be back later." Ryosuke said to his brother as he walked through the living room.

"Kay." Keisuke replied without even looking away from the TV. With that Ryosuke grabbed his keys and headed towards his white FC. He had a very important meeting to go to. Too bad the person he was going to meet had no clue he was coming. Ryosuke pulled out of the drive way and headed towards the course they had just raced the previous night. Thirty minutes later He pulled up in front of a small house with a red and silver RX-8 parked in front of it. Taking a deep breath, Ryosuke prepared himself for what he was about to do. Normally Ryosuke tried to stay out of his brother's private affairs, but this girl was from Keisuke's past and he didn't want to see his brother revert to his gangster days. With one last deep breath, Ryosuke got out of his car and walked up to the front door where he rang the door bell. Seconds later the door opened to show a girl around the age of 16 covered in smears of paint.

"Can I help you?" Mia asked the strange man on her doorstep.

"Yes actually. I am looking for an Aria Uzukia. Is this where she lives?" Ryosuke asked.

'Uzukia?' Mia thought to herself. 'Why would nii-san give mom's name as hers?' Then deciding to go along with it she replied. "Yeah, Aria lives here. Give me a sec and I'll get her."

"Arigato." No more than a minute later the door opened once more to reveal an equally paint splattered Aria. Seeing the older Takahashi brother on her door step made Aria's eyes widen.

"Takahasi-san. To what do I owe this pleasure? This isn't about me beating your brother last night is it?"

"No Aria-san, it's not. But this does have something to do with my brother." Then before he lost his nerve, he quickly said what he had come to say. "I come to give you a warning. If you in any way cause my brother to revert back to how he used to be I will personally make sure you regret it till your last day."

"Are you threatening me Ryosuke-san?" Aria said with her eyes narrowing in anger. "And what exactly makes you think that I want to go back to the way I was. Did your brother tell you nothing about me? I got myself out because my mom died and my sister needed me. I have no desire to return to any gang. I have so much more to live for now. Not to mention I don't even want to consider how doing something so stupid would screw up my sister. Believe it or not, I want her to do something with her life and not waste her opportunities like I did. I can't believe you would even come here and suggest that I wanted to drag your brother back into the underworld, and if you ever suggest something so audacious ever again, I won't be held responsible for my actions."

Taken aback by the force of Aria's words, Ryosuke took an involuntary step backwards. "Gomen nasi. It's just, I care for my brother a lot and I don't want to see him get hurt. Try looking at this from my perspective."

Aria paused for a second to try and consider how this all must look to Keisuke's brother and after a moment she let out a resigned sigh. "I see what you mean. But please believe me when I say that I have no intentions of pulling your brother back into the underworld. Hell, I have no intentions of going back there myself. You have my word on that, Ryosuke-san."

"Thank you. That's all I ask." Ryosuke then turned and headed back to his car. Before he left he said, "Have fun with my brother tonight, but not too much fun." With a smirk.

* * *

"Aniki! I'm leaving!" Keisuke shouted to his brother from the door of their house.

"What time will you be back!" Ryosuke shouted back.

"Don't know, so don't wait up for me. You should have plenty of time for Fujiwara to come over." Keisuke replied with a smirk. Even though Ryosuke was trying to keep his and Takumi's relationship as quiet as possible, there was very little that happened in Ryosuke's life that Keisuke didn't know about.

With that comment, Ryosuke popped around the corner of the kitchen sputtering. "How did you know!"

"Oh please Aniki. As if you could hide something like that from me. Don't worry. I don't have a problem with it. Takumi's a great guy; just don't play uke too often." Keisuke said before quickly darting out the door before his words could register with Ryosuke. By the time they did Keisuke was pulling out of the driveway right as Ryosuke came out the door to give his rebuttal. Keisuke laughed all the way to Aria's house.

Keisuke pulled up to Aria's house at a quarter till eight, and seeing her red and silver RX-8 in front of the house he got out and went to the door. A few seconds after ringing the door bell, a girl about the age of 16 opened the door.

"Hello. My name is Takahashi Keisuke and I'm here to pick up Aria."

Mia looked at him confusedly for a second before replying. "Aria's not here. I thought you had already come to get her since she wasn't here when I got back from the store."

"Are you sure? I mean her car is here." Keisuke asked. Mia just gave him a look like 'of course I'm sure, this is my house.' After hearing how stupid his question sounded he just kind of nodded.

"Come on in. I'll call Nii-san's cell phone and see if I can't figure out where she is. It's kinda weird though. Aria never goes anywhere without her car." Mia said as she searched for her phone so she could call her sister. Keisuke stood in the entryway while he patiently waited for Mia to call Aria. He had a very weird feeling about this. Mia dialed her sister's number, but when Aria never answered she hung up with a weird look on her face.

"That's weird." Mia said almost to her self.

"What's weird?"

"Aria always answers her phone when I call. It's almost like she's paranoid that something's wrong whenever I call."

"Here, let me try to call her." Keisuke said as he pulled out his phone and flipped it open to dial Aria's number. This time the phone was answered on the second ring, but it wasn't Aria's voice on the other side.

"Pretty boy Takahashi. I was hoping you would call." A gruff male voice said from the other end.

"Who is this?" Keisuke asked, the feeling of dread growing stronger.

"Someone who warned you a long time ago about what would happen if anyone messed with the Trigun's territory. Well let me tell you, Aria Yaslana falls into that category. If you ever want to see Aria again, meet me at the top of Akagi in an hour."

With that the man hung up the phone. Keisuke stood there for a few moments just looking at his phone. Mia could tell something was very wrong.

"Where's my sister?" She asked, already knowing the answer she would be given.

"I- don't know, but you're coming with me." With that Keisuke grabbed Mia's hand and pulled her out to his car, but not before locking up the house. He then drove as fast as he could back to his house. On the way he called his brother.

"Aniki, something came up. I'm on my way home. Just thought I'd let you know."

"Keisuke, what's wrong you…" Ryosuke didn't even get to finish his sentence because Keisuke had hung up on him. Something extremely bad was about to happen, and for the first time in his life Ryosuke felt completely powerless to stop it.

tbc


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Less than twenty minutes later, Keisuke pulled up in front of his house, got out of his car, and expected Mia to follow him. Mia was shocked at the size of his house. You could fit two of her sister and her's houses in there. Realizing she was being left, Mia quickly followed Keisuke up the front steps where they were met by a worried Ryosuke.

"Ryosuke this is Aria's sister, Mia. I want her to stay here for a while. I have something to do and I don't think she should be by herself right now." Keisuke explained while he started heading towards his room.

"Keisuke, what's going on?" Ryosuke asked. As he walked through the living room he begged Takumi with his eyes to make the girl feel at home before following his brother to his room. Once he got there he found Keisuke digging through a box in the back of his closet. Shutting the door he turned and put his back to it, effectively trapping Keisuke in his own room.

"Tell me what's going on right now, or you're not leaving this room." Ryosuke said in his most serious voice.

Without even pulling his head out of the closet Keisuke started talking. "Aria's been kidnapped, I'm assuming by a member of her former gang. When I got to Aria's house tonight, her car was there but she wasn't. Mia thought I had already come to get her, so when she called her there was no answer, but when I called her some guy answered and told me that if I ever wanted to see Aria again to meet him at the top of Akagi in an hour. That means I only have about thirty minutes to get there." Keisuke had evidently found what he was looking for by the time he finished his explanation he had reemerged from the closet, and what he held in his hand shocked Ryosuke.

"How long have you had that?" Ryosuke asked.

"Since before you pulled me back into this world." Keisuke replied as he skillfully slid the clip from the glock he now held in his hand. Satisfied with what he saw he reinserted the clip before flipping the safety and tucking the gun into the back of his pants.

"What are you going to do Keisuke?" Ryosuke asked, still shocked by the fact that his brother had a gun in the house all this time.

"I'm going to get Aria back." Keisuke replied with ice in his eyes.

* * *

"Hmmm. Seems like your little boy toy really does fancy you, Blade." Ice said as he pulled the gag from Aria's mouth.

Aria glared at him, a look that had froze lesser men in her days as a gangster. "I haven't been Blade for a long time Ice and you know it. Trigun let me go willingly."

"Trigun may have let you go, but I never did." He said as he crouched next to her and ran a finger down her cheek, a touch she shied away from.

"Touch me again Ice and I'll kill you."

"I don't think that you are in any position to be making demands Blade." And to finalize his point, he seized her chin roughly and kissed her hard. In response, Aria bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. Ice pulled back quickly and after spitting the blood from his mouth, he backhanded Aria across her already bruised cheek causing her to fall over sideways.

"Don't do that again, or I'll do more than hit you." Ice warned as he wiped away more blood with the back of his hand.

"What do you hope to gain by this Ice?"

"Gain? I don't hope to gain anything. I plan on taking what should have always been mine, and removing your little boyfriend from the picture permanently." Ice smirked at the horrified expression on Aria's face. "Now just set there quietly. We'll see if he's man enough to actually show up."

* * *

"You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you go alone, Keisuke." Ryosuke said when his brother made to open his bedroom door.

"No, Aniki. You are not coming."

"Like hell I'm not! I won't lose you! I'm coming whether you like it or not. What are the chances that this guy is alone. I'll tell you what they are, pretty slim. No way are you going alone."

"What about Mia? I'm not taking her, but she shouldn't stay here by herself." Keisuke said, resigning himself to the fact that his brother was coming whether he liked it or not.

"I'll talk to Takumi. I'm sure he'll stay with her. He won't be happy about it, but he'll do it."

"Fine. You have five minutes before I leave." With that Keisuke jerked open his door and headed towards some of his other stashed weapons. If he remembered correctly, Aria wasn't called Blade in the Trigun's for nothing. She had been damn good with a knife. If he could get her free, she would most likely want revenge, and for that she would need a weapon.

Exactly five minutes later Keisuke's yellow FD and Ryosuke's white FC pulled away from the Takahashi residence and headed towards Akagi.

* * *

"Looks like little lover boy isn't coming. Maybe I should just take you now and leave." Ice said as he once again knelt down by Aria. Just then, the sound of two engines could clearly be heard coming up the mountain. Ice quickly rose from his crouch just as the FC and FD drove past and turned around. Once the vehicles were stopped both Ryosuke and Keisuke climbed out and stood facing Ice and his crony Fire. Aria was on the ground with a gag in her mouth, her hands tied behind her back, and her ankles bound together.

The stare off lasted several seconds before Ice smirked. "I didn't think you would show up pretty boy. Once again I'm shocked."

"Look, I don't know who you are, but I'm telling you right now, let her go before I make you let her go." Keisuke said. Ryosuke had never seen his brother like this before. This Keisuke standing with him wasn't the carefree joker that was his brother. No, this Keisuke was hard, cold, and calculated. He looked like he wouldn't hesitate to kill, which he most likely wouldn't. Ryosuke now knew why his brother had been feared when he was a biker. This Keisuke was scary.

Ice laughed. "Did you really think that was going to work? I'll tell ya what. Since you're such a hot shot street racer, we'll race. If you beat me, I'll let Blade go and never go near her again. If I win, however, you will never come near her again."

"Deal. One lap down and back on Akagi."

"Fine. Fire will stay here to keep an eye on my little captive."

"And my brother will stay here and keep an eye on your crony."

"Fair enough. So shall we begin?" Ice said.

"Let me talk to Aria first." Keisuke demanded.

"One minute. No more." Ice replied

Keisuke just nodded and headed towards Aria. He then pulled the gag from her mouth. "What the hell are you doing! You shouldn't have come. I would have been fine." Aria whispered fiercely once she could talk.

"I know what I'm doing. Here take this." With that, Keisuke placed a small pin knife in one of her bound hands. "Try to free yourself without jumbo over there seeing you."

"That shouldn't be too hard. Fire is incredibly dense." Aria said with a very small smirk. Then she became serious once more. "You do realize that Ice plans on killing you, don't you?"

"I figured as much. Don't worry though I'll take care of it." He then gave Aria a quick kiss.

"Times up, pretty boy. Let's race." Ice then said.

Getting up, Keisuke headed towards his car. Ryosuke spoke just as Keisuke was getting ready to shut the door.

"Keisuke, be careful."

"I will Aniki. Oh Aniki, will you do the count down please."

Ryosuke just nodded and headed to the front of the two cars. At the 'Go' both cars peeled out, and at the first corner Keisuke purposely let Ice take the lead.

Aria watched the two cars disappear before focusing her attention on freeing her hands without Fire knowing. Ryosuke saw what Aria was trying to do so he did his best to distract Fire so he wouldn't notice. As Ryosuke started taunting Fire, Aria grinned. It would be a piece of cake to free her hands now.

Once Aria had her hands free she went about discreetly freeing her feet. Luck was on her side as the whole time Fire never once looked at her.

Fire never knew what hit him. One second Ryosuke was taunting him, the next someone had jumped on his back and put him in a sleeper hold. Ever so slowly Fire slumped and was out cold on the ground with Aria standing over him.

"You're kind of scary, you know that right?" Ryosuke said as Aria made eye contact with him. Her eyes were cold, and she carried herself in a way that screamed 'don't mess with me'.

"Did Keisuke put anything into your car before you left?"

"As a matter of fact he did. There's a bag behind the seat." Ryosuke said, wondering how this girl could have known, and then passing it off as a gangster thing.

Aria immediately went to the FC and pulled the bag out from behind the seat. As she predicted, Keisuke had packed some rope and then grinning she pulled out a wicked looking dagger.

"I forgot that I gave this to Keisuke to hold onto for me. Now help me tie him up before he comes to." Aria said turning to Ryosuke.

The two then set to work thoroughly tying Fire up.

* * *

Meanwhile, down the mountain, Ice was becoming more and more frustrated. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get this kid to pass him. They were almost to the bottom of the mountain now, and so Ice decided to make his move at the turn around.

Keisuke recognized all the signs of Ice trying to force him to pass, but he resolutely stayed behind. If his plan was going to work, he needed Ice firmly in front of him. Keisuke then saw the perfect opportunity to attack. He took a page out of Takumi's book and flipped off his headlights, then right before corner C-121 Keisuke did a full 180 in the road and started heading back towards the top. He knew Ice wouldn't be too far behind him, but he prayed that it would be enough.

Ice freaked out when the FD suddenly disappeared from his view. He kept driving, but as soon as he heard the screech of tires turning, he knew he had been played. Unfortunately the road on the down side of C-121 was too narrow to pull a 180 safely in though, but at his next opportunity, Ice flipped his car around and began chasing back up the mountain.

* * *

Fire started coming to and instantly noticed a weight on his chest. Opening his eyes he looked into a fierce set of blue ones holding the tip of a dagger at his throat.

"Good of you to join us again Fire." Aria said, not once moving the dagger.

"B-blade, I only did what Ice told me to. Y-you know I always liked you, right?" Fire stuttered.

Aria wasn't even phased by the man's attempt to sway her. "Do you know why I was called Blade, Fire? It's because I slit a man's throat who tried to molest me when I was 16. I've killed before, what makes you think that a little flattery is going to keep me from doing the same to you."

"P-please Blade, I-I'll help you, but please don't kill me!"

Just then, the sound of an engine could be heard approaching. Aria quickly thumped Fire on the temple with the hilt of her dagger before holding her breath waiting to see who's car was coming. She released her breath in a whoosh when she saw Keisuke's FD skid around the last corner and come to a screeching halt beside her. Unfortunately, Ice was only a few seconds behind him. Keisuke quickly got out of his car and placed himself between a very pissed off Ice and Aria.

"You little shit! You cheated." Ice yelled.

"Oh as if you actually had intentions of playing fair!" Keisuke shouted back. "Don't forget, I was a gangster too. I know how your mind works.

"This was the last straw for Ice. He quickly reached behind him and drew his gun. This kid was just too annoying; it was time to dispose of him. Before he could even pull the trigger however, a small throwing knife whizzed through the air and went right through the wrist of the hand that was holding the gun. Ice dropped the gun with a scream and fell to his knees.

"That's the other reason I was called blade. Because I can hit anything with a throwing knife." Aria said as she stepped from behind Keisuke and walked towards Ice where she picked up his fallen gun and pointed it at him. "You've always been such a pussy, Ice. Most men wouldn't let something like a pierced wrist make them drop their gun. Tsk tsk." Ice was trembling by this time and practically begging for his life. Aria simply stood in front of him with the muzzle of the gun pressed to his forehead. "If you ever think about coming near me again Ice, I will kill you." Aria then removed the gun from his head and began walking away.

Ice wasn't through yet though, and as Aria turned her back he reached for the small pistol he had strapped to his leg. Keisuke saw the movement but by the time he had drawn his own weapon, it had been a fraction of a second too late when he pulled the trigger and sent a bullet into Ice's shoulder. Aria crashed forward on the ground and didn't move.

tbc


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

HeatPainNumbBlurredBlacknessBlacknessBlackness…

Aria awoke slowly. Everything hurt. It even hurt to open her eyes, the light in the room was simply too bright. Then, suddenly the light dimmed, and a very welcome voice spoke in her ear.

"Aria. Wake up. C'mon baby, open your eyes." Keisuke said after dimming the lights in the hospital room when he saw Aria's eyes flutter.

Aria cracked open her eyes and saw a very tired and worried Keisuke leaning over her. "Hey" she whispered.

"Hey." Keisuke said back. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I've been shot. Stupid question Keisuke." Aria said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah you're right. I'll go get a nurse and tell her that you're awake." With that Keisuke placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and left the room.

Aria snuggled down in the pillows and awaited Keisuke's return. She really needed to know what happened. The last thing she remembered was turning away from Ice, and then there was only pain. She knew she had been shot, but she needed to know how it happened.

Out in the hallway Keisuke headed towards the waiting room where his brother, Takumi, and Aria's sister Mia were waiting. As soon as he entered all three of them rushed towards him expectantly.

"She's awake and lucid. I figured you might want to see your sister Mia so I came to get you. Aniki, will you find a nurse and tell her that Aria's awake."

"I'll do more than that. I'll call father so he can come talk to her and explain what all had to be done."

Keisuke just nodded and then began heading back to Aria's room with Mia.

As soon as Mia entered the room and saw her sister she rushed to her bed and hugged her way too hard, tears leaking down her cheeks the whole time.

"Oww." Aria mumbled, but she held Mia just as tightly.

"I was so worried Nii-san. First Keisuke-san made me go to his house with him, then no one would tell me anything. I thought you were dead. Promise me you'll never leave me Nii-san, please promise." Mia sobbed.

Aria gently stroked Mia's back tryng to soothe the girl as best as she could. Mia had reacted the same way after their mother had died. Aria wasn't seeing the almost independent 16 year old that Mia was. Instead she was seeing the frightened 13 year old Mia had been three years ago. "Shh, Mia. I won't leave you. I promise." Aria reassured her.

Keisuke just stood by the door quietly. Soon there was a knock on the door and Ryosuke, Takumi, and a man who could only be Keisuke and Ryosuke's father entered the room.

"It's good to see that you are awake" Dr. Takahashi said.

Aria and Mia let go of each other, but Mia remained by her sisters bed. Aria focused all of her attention on the man who had spoken to her.

"My name is Dr. Takahashi; I was the one who operated on you. You were a very lucky individual in more than one way. You were lucky that my son was there to provide initial care while waiting for the ambulance, and you were also lucky that the bullet missed all of your major arteries and your left lung. However, there was severe tissue damage that we had to go in and repair, but you should make a complete recovery. The wound was pretty clean, so you shouldn't need to stay here more than two days. However, you will need to take it easy and not use that shoulder at all for at least three weeks. If you need anything, call a nurse with the call button. If you don't have any questions I will take my leave now."

Aria shook her head to indicate that she understood what the doctor was saying and that she didn't have any questions. Once Dr. Takahashi was gone Aria immediately focused her attention on Keisuke and Ryosuke. "Tell me exactly what happened. I don't remember much. What happened to Ice?"

Keisuke and Ryosuke just looked at each other, each of them pleading with the other to tell Aria what happened. Finally Keisuke lost the battle of wills and began telling Aria what happened.

"When you turned your back, Ice pulled out a pistol from his leg. I pulled out my gun but I wasn't fast enough and he shot you. I hit him in the shoulder. We called an ambulance, but before they got there Fire got free and took off with Ice. We don't know where they went. Ice was still conscious when they left. His shot did a lot more damage to you than my shot did to him."

"Nii-san, who is Ice?" Mia asked. Aria very rarely spoke of her days as a gangster, so Mia really didn't know much about her sister's former life.

"That's something I would like to know also. I mean what motivation did this guy have to come after you?" Keisuke asked.

"Ice has always been infatuated with me. I never returned those feelings and I think that's what pissed him off the most. He hardly ever left me alone when I was with the Triguns. When I left, I never thought that I would see him again so I never worried about it. After all, they did let me go willingly, but I guess Ice wasn't so determined to leave me alone."

"But that was almost three years ago Aria. Why would he just now be coming after you?"

"That is something I'm going to find out." Aria replied. Her eyes had turned hard again, and Keisuke knew that Aria was just as tough as ever. You can take the girl out of the gang, but you can't take the gang out of the girl.

Everyone was silent for a moment, before a question Mia wanted to ask her sister popped into her head. "Nii-san, why did Ryosuke-san use mom's name when asking for you earlier?"

Ryosuke just looked at Aria with a confused expression on his face. Aria blushed and averted her gaze. "Because, Mia, that's the way I introduced myself at the battle. I didn't want to give our real last name because then Keisuke would have instantly remembered me."

"Uzukia isn't your real last name?" Ryosuke asked.

"No, it's Yaslana." Aria replied. "We have an unusual last name. By our name you can pretty much tell that we're not 100 Japanese. Mia and I's father was an American rally racer and our mother was Japanese."

"You can pretty much tell that you're not 100 Japanese by your looks, Aria. I mean how many natives do you see in Japan with curly auburn hair and blue eyes." Keisuke said with a smirk.

tbc


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Two days later a very anxious Aria sat in the hospital awaiting her ride home. All of her discharge papers had been filed and now all she need was her ride home. Damn Keisuke! Where was he! As soon as he appeared around the corner, Aria had a hold of his hand and was dragging him towards the exit. "You're late." Aria said as she pulled him along.

"I had a stop I needed to make first. What's your hurry?" Keisuke said while trying to keep up with Aria.

"What's my hurry? You try being in a hospital for two days and then ask me what my hurry is. I just want to go home and take a nice long soak in the tub."

They finally arrived outside and Aria's eyes instantly widened. "You drove my car! Why do you have my car?" Aria asked as she turned to Keisuke.

"I didn't figure you would want to leave it at your house since we aren't going back there." Keisuke replied.

"What do you mean we're not going back to my house?"

"I don't want you there by yourself until we know where Ice disappeared to. You and Mia are going to be staying with Ryosuke and me until you're at least healed. We've already packed a lot of your things and taken them to the house. Mia packed everything of yours that she thought you might want. The only thing that was left to get was your car, so Aniki took me over there so I could get it before coming to get you."

Aria stood beside her car in thought before looking at Keisuke and replying. She could tell that he was genuinely worried about her so she decided not to protest. "Do you really think you can handle living with me until I'm healed? I mean I can be quite a bitch, especially when I'm injured." Aria said in a joking manner. It was just the tension breaker that was needed and Keisuke visibly relaxed knowing that Aria wasn't going to get mad.

"Of course I can live with you. Don't forget, I can be just as much of a hard ass as you." Keisuke replied before wrapping an arm around Aria's waist and placing a gentle kiss to her lips.

"Now, with that settled, can we please go home? I don't even want to see another hospital until I have to come back for my check up."

Aria slid into the passenger side of her car while Keisuke slid behind the wheel. It felt weird seeing someone else drive her baby but Aria knew she wasn't up to driving herself so she sat back and decided to enjoy the ride. Keisuke started the car and drove away from the hospital. If things went according to his plan, Aria wouldn't ever be returning to her own house.

* * *

Not twenty minutes later, Keisuke pulled up in front of his house. Aria could only set in the car dumbstruck. The house was huge! You could fit twice as many people in it as were going to be living there and still not feel crowded. No wonder Keisuke said he would have no problem living with her. He could easily get away if he wanted to. 

Keisuke sat anxiously watching Aria's reaction. He really hoped that Aria would be okay with his home. After all, he hoped it would be her home too someday.

"This place is huge! You could fit two of my houses in there. Oh I bet you have some killer bathtubs!" Aria exclaimed.

Keisuke relaxed. It seemed that Aria was excited about living there. "C'mon." He said as he got out of the car. "The sooner we go inside, the sooner you can try out one of those killer bathtubs." With that, he and Aria headed into the house hand in hand, where an eager Mia greeted them.

"Isn't this place great Nii-san. I'm glad you're out of the hospital. Wasn't it nice of Ryosuke-san and Keisuke-san to let us live here while you recover." Mia said without taking a breath.

Aria could only grin at the enthusiastic way her sister greeted her. "Yeah it is very nice of them." She replied before turning to Keisuke. "Now, how 'bout you show me to my room so I can go find one of those tubs we were talking about."

Keisuke just grinned and shook his head before leading Aria up the stairs and to her room. Upon opening the door, her eyes widened. The room was no disappointment. There was a huge queen sized bed, a full walk in closet, her own personal bath, and a balcony. Aria walked into the room in awe. This was where she would be staying. She could definitely get used to this.

Keisuke just watched Aria as she explored every corner of the room, but he grinned when Aria reached the bathroom.

"Holy shit! The tubs huge! You could fit three people in there." Aria exclaimed as she came back into the bedroom.

"I thought you might like it." Keisuke replied as he wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a sweet kiss on her lips. "I'll leave you to get settled and take your bath. Come down stairs when you're done. Kay?"

"Kay." Aria replied as she returned his kiss with one of her own.

Keisuke then left shutting the door behind him. Aria immediately went to the bathroom and started filling the tub. She found sever bottles of bath oils and soaps on the shelf by the tub, and after finding one she liked she poured some in and left to let the tub fill. She lay down on her bed and was deep in thought for several minutes. So much had happened in the past week. Some of it good and some of it bad. To tell the truth, Aria was glad that Keisuke had 'forced' her to come live with him while she healed. Not knowing where Ice disappeared to bothered her. With a shudder Aria got of the bed and undressed before heading into the bathroom. A nice long soak was just what she needed to unwind. Aria got in the tub and relaxed back closing her eyes. A soak was just what she needed.

* * *

Meanwhile, Keisuke had gone back down stairs. There he found his brother and Takumi snuggled up on the couch watching TV. 

"Did you get Aria settled?" Ryosuke asked as he shifted his gave from the TV to his brother.

"Yeah. She's gonna take a bath and then come down stairs." Keisuke replied.

"Hmm. I figured you want to take one with her." Ryosuke said with a grin.

"I don't want to rush things or make her uncomfortable. I'd like to spend the rest of my life with her if she'll let me."

Ryosuke sobered up. "I didn't know that your feelings ran that deep."

"Yeah." Was the only reply given before Keisuke changed the subject. "Where's Mia?"

"She's in her room. She said something about homework before she disappeared." Takumi replied.

"Oh. Mind if I join you?" Keisuke said, obviously satisfied with the answer. Before waiting for a reply he plopped down on the couch and began watching TV with them.

After about thirty minutes he was getting restless. Aria still had not come down stairs. Thought instantly began running through his mind and he hoped that she was okay. After five more minutes, he couldn't take it anymore. He quickly got off the couch and headed towards the stairs, mumbling something about making sure Aria was okay.

Once he was out of the room, Takumi and Ryosuke looked at each other before busting up laughing.

"Five bucks says that Aria's fine but that they end up both in the tub." Takumi said.

"And you should know by now that I don't bet you." Ryosuke replied.

"Aww, why not?" Takumi pouted.

"Because you are usually right." Ryosuke said before thoroughly plundering Takumi's mouth.

Upstairs, Keisuke had just opened Aria's bedroom door.

tbc

* * *

Action in the next chapter. Don't know when I'll get it up though. BioChem is a bitch of a class and it's keeping me busy. 


End file.
